Ford has spent a great deal of time and money developing and marketing its EcoBoost family. The company makes a wide variety of EcoBoost engines (which is basically a fancy name for turbocharging plus direct injection) ranging from a 1.0-liter three-cylinder to a 3.5-liter V6.

Ford's efforts have paid off, as sales of the naturally aspirated V6- and EcoBoost V6-equipped F-150s have outpaced those of the V8 models. And all along the way, Ford has thumbed its nose at the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra, stating how its EcoBoost V6 gets V8 performance and V6 fuel economy.

GM, however, is hitting back today with the announcement that its new 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8 engines manages to produce 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque. While the horsepower number compares favorably with the EcoBoost V6 in the F-150, it's down quite a bit in torque. GM says that in 4x2 trim, the EcoTec3 will be good for 23 mpg highway; checking off the 4x4 option box will result in 22 mpg on the highway.

2014 Chevrolet Silverado

Both of these numbers are 1 mpg better than the EcoBoost F-150. In fact, it matches the fuel economy of Ford’s naturally aspirated, 3.7-liter V6.

“Silverado’s available 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8 gives customers the best of both worlds,” bragged Jeff Luke, executive chief engineer for the Silverado. “Customers get the proven power and dependability of a V-8 truck engine, with better fuel economy than a leading competitor’s smaller turbocharged V-6.”

GM’s fun in the mpg sun, however, likely won’t last long. Ford is reportedly looking to trim up to 700 pounds from the next generation F-150, which will go a long way towards improving fuel efficiency. Ford showcased the use of active aero technology on its Atlas truck concept (which no doubt is a precursor to the next generation F-150), which boost highway fuel efficiency by 2 mpg.

Yes, that at the wheels. But I don't dare do that kind of power output for very long. Other things will start to fail...

Had to have a custom R4100 built by BTS down in Lead Hill AR to handle everything. According to the spec the new Trans will handle up to 2K HP.

But we have a 1/3-up-1/3-down gear splitter and a diff locker from US gear installed just to help protect that tranny from any damage.

Spuke, When I'm going through the Rockies with my cattle or horses you should see the look on the face of the trucker and camper crowd when I pass them at full speed on a incline. It's priceless! Of course downhill I still have brake over heating issues but the jake brake helps even things out.

VERY nice rig Karma. I can only imagine those looks LOL!!! I've thought about selling my truck in a few years but modding it would be soooo much fun although since CA started smogging diesels, I'm thinking twice about that. Maybe when I move to AZ.